Questions about BBS reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mak1405 · 2015-05-29 01:54 Hello, I was always interested in BBSs but I thought they were dead until recently. I have some questions 1) a website has a URL , what did people type to get to a specific BBS and how did they find it any way since there was no Google back then to search? 2) A website is made of files and images written in HTML, what was the equivalent of this on a BBS? 3) My understanding is that a BBS has a main page with different sections and files. Isn't this what the early html websites on Geocities were? links and content. 4) I plan to use SyncTerm to log on a bbs , I am using os x. Am I doing it wrong? 5) Is there any advantage to still use a BBS like people feel there is still a use for Usenet? or is it just a hobby thing? 6) Are BBSs still active with fresh content or are they just graveyards? 7) Can you BBS from a smartphone? Thank you ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sysop_2400 · 2015-05-29 02:15 >1) a website has a URL , what did people type to get to a specific BBS and how did they find it any way since there was no Google back then to search? A phone number :) Some BBSs would have a text file with other boards listed. >2) A website is made of files and images written in HTML, what was the equivalent of this on a BBS? In general, ANSI. Colored text and some rudimentary shapes. How you actually programmed screens depended entirely on the software you were running. >3) My understanding is that a BBS has a main page with different sections and files. Isn't this what the early html websites on Geocities were? links and content. Sure is! You would see a menu that would list the commands or menu options available, then type those to go to different pages or doors, etc. >4) I plan to use SyncTerm to log on a bbs , I am using os x. Am I doing it wrong? PC guy here, apologies. >5) Is there any advantage to still use a BBS like people feel there is still a use for Usenet? or is it just a hobby thing? I can't actually think of anything you can do on a BBS that can't be done on the web. Mostly a hobby thing and for nostalgia. Because of its somewhat ancient nature, it would be a pretty fantastic place to plot to take the world over tho, as they certainly aren't being indexed by Google. >6) Are BBSs still active with fresh content or are they just graveyards? There are certainly still active boards hosting games like MajorMUD and TradeWars! >7) Can you BBS from a smartphone? Yes! Find an ANSI compatible telnet client and you're good to go. >Thank you Sorry for my somewhat brief answers, on mobile and bouncing around in an Uber. :D ---------------------------------------------------------------------- commiecat · 2015-05-29 03:01 Aptly-named /u/sysop_2400 hit them all. Check the sidebar regarding the BBS Documentary if you're interested in the history; it's quite well-done and was released under Creative Commons to be shared legally. I used BBS to chat and to play games. Chat was called teleconference and was live like IRC and not like a forum or Usenet. MUDs were basically text-based multiplayer RPGs. Additionally there were programs like [SIRDOOM](http://psg.mtu.edu/pub/idgames/utils/serial/sirdoom.txt) (link is the text file describing the program) that would facilitate online Doom II through a BBS which blew my mind at a time when "multiplayer" with graphics was my NES or Genesis with a second player. They were awesome and I presume like many people here, every now and then I'll fire something up for that nostalgia kick. I still play [MajorMUD](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MajorMUD) on occasion in a VM I have. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- autowikibot · 2015-05-29 03:01 ##### ###### #### [**MajorMUD**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MajorMUD): [](#sfw) --- > >__MajorMUD__ was [MUD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD) software for the [Major BBS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_BBS) and [Worldgroup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldgroup) [BBS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system) platforms. It could be played over a dial-up [modem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modem) connected to a BBS, or more recently over [telnet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telnet). >==== >[**Image**](https://i.imgur.com/5fHphPH.png) [^(i)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MajorMUD.png) --- ^Interesting: [^DragonSpires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonSpires) ^| [^Sociopolitical ^Ramifications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociopo litical_Ramifications) ^| [^Lysator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysator) ^| [^Social ^verbs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_verbs) ^Parent ^commenter ^can [^toggle ^NSFW](/message/compose?to=autowikibot&subject=AutoWikibot NSFW toggle&message=%2Btoggle-nsfw+crof4hw) ^or[](#or) [^delete](/message/compose?to=autowikibot&subject=AutoWikibot Deletion&message=%2Bdelete+crof4hw)^. ^Will ^also ^delete ^on ^comment ^score ^of ^-1 ^or ^less. ^| [^(FAQs)](http://www.np.reddit.com/r/autowikibot/wiki/index) ^| [^Mods ](http://www.np.reddit.com/r/autowikibot/comments/1x013o/for_moderator s_switches_commands_and_css/) ^| [^Magic ^Words](http://www.np.reddit. com/r/autowikibot/comments/1ux484/ask_wikibot/) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sysop_2400 · 2015-05-29 03:17 Oh man, I still think MajorMUD is the most addictive game ever written. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TensionMask · 2015-05-29 04:16 Yeah, as sysop_2400 says, you would be dialing somebody's phone number and connecting to their computer. Once you got into the BBS scene, it wasn't too hard to build up a call list. BBSes often maintained their own BBS lists. People would plug their own BBSes on the message boards. Files you downloaded would often include ad(s) for other BBSes that the file had passed through. The tricky thing was getting that first BBS number, which pretty much had to be via word-of-mouth from an enlightened friend, or maybe from a computer magazine. Most people were blissfully unaware that BBSes even existed. Tragic! [THIS](http://cleaner.untergrund.net/files/daprophecy-02.png) is a good example of what a BBS looked like back then. That is ALL text, with some color and special characters (ANSI) to spice it up. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- anras · 2015-05-29 13:46 My favorite local MajorBBS/Worldgroup BBS had a lot of Doom playing via Game Connection and Sirdoom. Eventually we purchased something called Seripx that emulated an IPX network, which in theory allowed one to play pretty much any game, but in practice many games would crap out. However some really popular games did work, especially Duke Nukem 3D and Warcraft II. Oh the epic Warcraft II matches we'd play! Mind you this was before the battle.net edition came out. It was just so amazing at the time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sysop_2400 · 2015-05-29 13:53 Those strippers in duke nukem at the time were mind blowing! And all these years later, I still remember fog of war, and make it so... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- anras · 2015-05-29 17:25 Meant to reply to you with [this](http://www.reddit.com/r/bbs/comments /37o3vx/questions_about_bbs/cros6fb) post. (Accidentally replied to Sysop_2400) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ebookit · 2015-05-29 19:21 1) Dialing a phone number with a MODEM. Some people used War Dialers to find BBS numbers, others just read text files on other BBSes for BBS phone numbers. 2) ANSI most BBS systems run on DOS and OS/2 systems used ANSI text to display message boards and email and other things like games. 3) The BBS Main Menu was text based and had sub-menus for files, messages, doors/games, chat etc. A website also has a Main menu that links to other areas. 4) A lot of BBS systems went to Telnet instead of MODEM to survive. SyncTerm is the correct program to use to connect to a Telnet BBS. You just need to know the domain name and port number. 5) It is an old school thing. You won't have auto correct, so a lot of people make spelling mistakes. You'll have a text based editor and have to save by typing /s on a blank line usually. 6) Still active but not that many users. I tried to run one for the 314 St. Louis area and only got a few users who hardly used it. Didn't seem worth it to keep it running. Your best bet is to find a BBS that has networked subs to Fidonet or some other network. 7) Yes and you need a terminal program that can do ANSI or VT-100 emulation. You might not have the IBM font to get the graphics for ANSI art but it might just work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- commiecat · 2015-05-29 20:12 Yeah, Doom II via Sirdoom is what really got me into online FPS and PC gaming. I was awful at the time but it was still fun and I remember the Sysops of one board offered $100 to anybody that could beat them. Motivation to keep playing despite constant losses. ~20 years later and I still can't live without my gaming rig. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mak1405 · 2015-05-30 01:09 hey thanks. I started SyncTERM it asks for a name and an address when I choose the "telnet" option what should put in them? I never got asked for ports? I tried looking around for urls for bbs but none worked. I think I am inputting it wrong. what is a bbs you recommend? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mak1405 · 2015-05-30 01:12 thanks, i tried looking for BBS but I got URLs not phone numbers. which bbs do you recommend? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mak1405 · 2015-05-30 01:14 So you could play Doom against other players over a bbs? What kind of lag did you get? Plus when Doom was out did it not have online play? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mak1405 · 2015-05-30 01:17 I thought BBSs didnt advertise for others. The BBS documentary said they were pretty competitive. Also, they did the ANSI using text editor only typing eachh character on its own? sounds like a really cool underground culture to join ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sysop_2400 · 2015-05-30 01:33 Ahh, now a days, they're all telnet (well, most). Whatever client you choose to use should support that. I don't have one in particular that I recommend, but I could suggest browsing through this subreddit to find some recent active addresses! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- electronicchicken · 2015-05-30 01:35 When you add an entry to your Directory in SyncTERM, and choose Telnet as the connection method, it will use port 23 by default. This is most common. Once an entry exists in your Directory, you can highlight it and hit F2 to edit it. From there you'll be able to change the port if necessary. You can have SyncTERM use Telnet as the default protocol (and set other default options) by editing the Default Connection Settings. You don't necessarily have to add a Directory entry for each system that you wish to call (but you can if you want to.) If you hit Cmd-D (or perhaps CTRL-D - I haven't used SyncTERM on OS X in quite a while) from the Directory menu, an input box will appear. Here you can enter the address you wish to connect to, and your default connection settings will be applied. In SyncTERM you won't be entering URLs, just hostnames. Instead of a URL like, say "telnet://bbs.electronicchicken.com:23/" you would just use a hostname like "bbs.electronicchicken.com". People might have specific BBS recommendations for you, but you might enjoy just looking at some lists and trying out a bunch of different systems to get a sampling: This one's pretty generic: http://www.telnetbbsguide.com/brieflist.asp These boards all run Synchronet. There are some good ones, also a lot of bland ones: http://synchro.net/sbbslist.html Here are some Commodore 64 BBSs: http://cbbsoutpost.servebbs.com/ And, when this site is online, it will show you a list of boards that are actually up and running right now: http://www.bbsfinder.net/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nolageek · 2015-05-30 01:43 You can go to a site like telnetbbslist.com to find telnetable bbses. You don't want web URLs, you want something like telnet: capitolshrill.com (that's my board) In syncterm add a new entry and use capitolshrill.com as the host name and port 23 (that's the default telnet port.) Some boards may specify a different port for various reasons. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ebookit · 2015-05-30 02:05 http://www.telnetbbsguide.com/ That has a list of BBSes. The Address is either an IP address or domain name. When you add the BBS address you put a colon after it with the port number. If the BBS listen does not have a colon with a port after it you don't need the port number because it uses the default Telnet port. I would recommend the BBS behind SynchTerm but the domain doesn't seem to be working so I can find the address and port number to give you. http://syncterm.bbsdev.net/ I used to be on a few BBSes but they went down, I haven't been on one for years. I think SyncTerm comes with one in the address book already listed that you can use. It will be difficult for you as you use a Mac and aren't used to the text based prompts and terminology. Some of the text based stuff is based on MS-DOS which is where ANSI graphics came from. Before the Macintosh they had text menus to make things easier to use. It would use ANSI graphics to make a full screen editor on the BBS that had drop down menus and other stuff. Most BBSes have the full screen menu disabled and use the text based one instead. Each BBS software has its own menu system and commands that are different from the rest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- commiecat · 2015-05-30 10:02 >So you could play Doom against other players over a bbs? Yep. Sirdoom was for MajorBBS which is what ran most of the boards that I called back then. >What kind of lag did you get? I honestly don't remember that well. I think the amazement of playing against someone else miles away overshadowed any flaws in gameplay. It wasn't intolerable and we played 1v1 deathmatch with regularity. >Plus when Doom was out did it not have online play? I believe Doom II supported LAN and dial-up. I didn't know about LAN at the time and I found out about Sirdoom from the boards that used it. The was a paid service called DWANGO but even if I knew about it then I don't think it would have been feasible for me. Sirdoom was free and let me connect through local boards I was already familiar with. Local was important. I'd wager that a lot of kids that called BBSs had at least one experience in which they needed to explain long distance charges to an angry parent. I kept the Yellow Pages nearby with local prefixes listed so I wouldn't make *that* mistake again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TensionMask · 2015-05-30 14:37 Dialup BBSes were basically killed when the Internet got big (late 90s), and then transitioned to being on the Internet themselves, in far lesser numbers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TensionMask · 2015-05-30 14:47 Hmm. I guess it depends on the BBS, but in my experience most were glad to promote others. It wasn't like you expected (or wanted) a person to only call YOUR board all day tying up your phone line. You wanted to get a variety of users in and out. > Also, they did the ANSI using text editor only typing eachh character on its own? Pretty much. There were programs that made it less tedious, and could do some shortcuts like give you fonts. The most popular was [TheDRAW](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyKn4AVTsEY) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- quistisffviii · 2015-05-31 05:29 From what I read, there is still a small number of dial-ups. Unfortunately, I have no way to call them anymore. =( Great response to the original questions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- quistisffviii · 2015-05-31 05:46 Most that I called had a list of numbers to call. Sometimes that list was a mile long, but there were some that only had a few. Several sysops that were in my area called multiple boards. It was a great way to advertise theirs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sysop_2400 · 2015-05-31 14:33 I wonder if there's some service online that will dial for you for a fee and port the session to telnet... And thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- quistisffviii · 2015-06-01 07:29 Hmm. That would be interesting. You're welcome! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BurnetRhoades · 2015-06-21 01:03 Competition doesn't mean enemies though. People competed to have the most popular but the scene was very supportive. I never logged into a BBS that didn't have an extensive list of other local boards. Even if you ran a board the discovery and exploration of a new system was all part of the experience. Seeing what other people were doing was part of what drove you to keep improving. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mak1405 · 2015-07-04 05:16 the bbs documentary i saw made the bbs owners look like they were hostile in their competition against each other. Thank you for your reply